The products are diverse -- from poultry, sausage, and beef to cheeses, confections, and chocolates – but countless food processing and cold storage facilities throughout Europe share a common ingredient. For more than 30 years, they have relied on Glasbord fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) with Surfaseal and seam sealant for their hygienic wall solutions.
Glasbord insulated wall panels deliver outstanding performance in high-stakes food processing and storage environments where hygiene failures can result in costly or devastating losses.
Hydewa and Glasbord partnership
Founded in Germany in 1998, Hydewa GmbH has grown to become the leading-edge developer and distributor of hygiene construction systems for the European food industry. Hydewa's 30+ year partnership with Crane Composites' Glasbord Hygienic Wall solutions has resulted in a series of success stories across the continent. Today Hydewa is the leading Glasbord system developer in Europe and the world's largest distributor of the product outside of North America.
Hydewa's Glasbord solutions are so popular with the food industry that the company has installed millions of square meters across Europe. It's a total surface area that would cover the entire principality of Monaco or about 374 NFL football fields!
The Challenge
In February of 1998, the Hydewa oHG was established and became a quick growing installation company involved in hygienic construction projects for German and Austria food processors and cold storage facilities. At job sites, they witnessed shortfalls associated with traditional interior cladding products in operations where hygiene and durability are essential. Surfaces inside food production, processing, and storage facilities must be cleaned constantly, so the walls must withstand repeated exposure to water, detergents, and other cleaning agents.
Historically, ceramic tiles have been used in food production spaces because they could be easily wiped clean. But moisture, mold, and dirt collect in horizontal and vertical grout seams. Tile also cracks and breaks upon impact.
PVC panels offer a lower-cost option with fewer seams but sealing options between seams and material porosity pose hygiene and cleaning problems. Further, PVC is less durable and prone to scratches, wear, discoloration, and failure in high temperatures. In ripening or storage facilities, VOCs from the material could potentially leach into products.
Coated metal panels provide impermeable surfaces, durability, and hygiene improvements when they're new. But over time, they experience corrosion from water, chemicals, or other metals on unprotected edges, scratches, and lack any flex on impact. Further, maintenance for damaged areas can be costly as the entire panel must be replaced.
In search of better alternatives to address these issues, Hydewa discovered Crane Composites' Glasbord on a trip to the U.S. and quickly recognized the tremendous potential for revolutionizing the European hygiene construction industry. They began offering insulated panels featuring Glasbord with its pore-free Surfaseal and high-performing seam sealant as a differentiator offering exceptional quality and superior performance.
The SOLUTION
The Crane Hygienic Wall System comprises wall panels, steel transitions, and urethane sealants that create a protective envelope, surpassing all other options. It not only outperforms coated metal panels, tile, PVC, and other FRP wall systems, its distinctive features deliver additional benefits that save food processors time, resources, and money. The downtime and costs associated with any potential product contamination or facility failure are severe threats in food and beverage facilities.
Performance + Durability
Crane's Glasbord was the first FRP product bonded with protective Surfaseal. This pore-free barrier prevents moisture condensation, mold growth, and the adhesion of dirt, germs, and bacteria. It is exceptionally easy to keep clean. Glasbord's permanent seam sealant ensures pipe-free, hygienic installation and food-safe joint solutions that reduce costly maintenance and replacements necessary with traditional silicone sealants.
The scratch-resistant, durable wall system flexes to withstand high-pressure, repeated washing, and other impacts without leakage, dents, or breakage. Should any damage occur, unlike metal panels, Glasbord can be replaced quickly in sections for cost savings without sacrificing protective performance.
Glasbord features a unique embossed surface, which, along with Surfaseal, creates an ideal substrate for the frequent washing and disinfecting that is vital in food processing facilities. The slightly pebbled finish captures cleaning agents to slow down the process, so less aggressive detergents can more efficiently sanitize the area. The Glasbord surface results in cost reductions in detergents and cleaning times. Easier cleaning means less harsh wear on the wall, adding to even greater durability.
The long-lasting material maintains its bright color over years of cleaning, disinfecting, and use, creating a fresh, bright environment. The embossed surface softens the reflection of light, unlike the hard-edge reflection from metal walls. This feature is meaningful for workers spending time in facilities or where lasers are in use.
The Crane Hygienic Wall System prevents downtime and fines due to cleaning. The industry average shutdown due to USDA shutdowns is 500 hours or up to $10 million loss.
Versatility + validation
While white is typically the preferred color, other color options are available, along with material surface variants, fire ratings, weights, thicknesses, and panel sizes or rolls.
The Crane Hygienic Wall System is the only interior cladding product that has attained ASTM 331 for bulk water transmission. It is the first HACCP-certified FRP solution, certifying that panels are suitable for food and beverage facilities that operate following a HACCP-based Food Safety Program.
Glasbord's Factory Mutual approved wall panels with Surfaseal finish have received GREENGUARD Gold certification, which is particularly significant to food processors and storage facilities. As a leading FRP manufacturer, Crane Composites has progressively improved product quality while increasing the use of low-emitting materials, and the GREENGUARD certification confirms that efforts have been successful. All Glasbord products meet FSMA, USDA, FDA, and FSIS food processing guidelines.
For Hydewa GmbH, the Glasbord wall system is its most successful product because of its excellent hygienic benefits, ease of cleaning, durability, and versatility. Hydewa provides custom development and installation not only in food manufacturing companies across Europe and worldwide but also in the medical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries
Trusting Glasbord to Protect
A cheese maturation facility customer is an excellent example of European food manufacturers' trust and confidence in the Glasbord with Surfaseal solution. The customer has invested millions of euros in high volumes of cheese that must ripen for years in a storage room. The quality of this world-renown cheese depends on unfailing cleanliness and optimal hygiene conditions. Any facility failure poses a tremendous risk. That's why they've counted on Glasbord for more than a decade to create an optimally clean and protective environment.
BUILDING RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
According to the 2022 Food Engineering Magazine's State of Food Manufacturing report, 59% of food processors report they plan to expand or retrofit their food processing plants. New construction plans are also occurring. Facilities decision-makers at the roughly 37,000 food processing facilities in the U.S.* can look to Hydewa's customers to envision how the performance of Glasbord hygienic wall solutions will stand the test of time.